Television used to be an influential item that was once a big part of our life. It probably still is today, except that its influence is being challenged by internet, smartphones and other entertainment devices.

Like many others, the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) dramas, especially those from Channel 8, used to accompany me in my childhood and teenage years.

The Early Days of SBC

The eighties and a large part of the nineties were undeniably the golden periods for SBC, the predecessor of Mediacorp (and TCS). SBC, Singapore Broadcasting Corporation in full, was established in February 1980 as a statutory board, after the corporatisation of Radio and Television Singapore (RTS).

Back then, the sources of Chinese dramas were mainly from Hong Kong and Taiwan. The dramas, many of them in Cantonese and Minnan (Taiwanese Hokkien), had to be dubbed in Mandarin for Singapore audience. After its establishment, SBC decided to invest and produce Singapore’s own Chinese drama series.

In 1978, Hong Kong’s entertainment realm was hit by the collapse of Commercial Television and the change in ownership of Rediffusion Television (now Asia Television Limited). The two incidents provided opportunities for SBC to recruit some of the top talents in Hong Kong scriptwriters and producers.

The early eighties also saw the first batch of local artistes recruited through drama training classes. This lasted a decade before it was eventually replaced by the Star Search competition in 1988, which produced the likes of Zoe Tay, Aileen Tan and Chew Chor Meng. In 1982, the successful production and broadcast of “Seletar Robbery” signified the birth of local Mandarin dramas.

Channel 5, Suria and Vasantham

Malay programs found their ways to TV as early as the sixties. “Pak Awang Temberang” (Uncle Awang Tells Stories) was the first Malay-language drama series aired in 1966. The seventies were the golden era for Malay dramas; many were produced and directed by Bani Buang (1929-1996), popularly known as the father of Singapore’s modern Malay dramas.

Locally-made Tamil dramas soon followed. “Ippadiayam oru Kudumbam” (What A Family), aired in August 1980, was the first Tamil-language drama series produced in Singapore.

Ironically, Singapore did not produce its own local English dramas until the nineties, even though Channel 5 was the first TV channel debuted in April 1963. The much-criticised “Masters Of The Sea” became the first local English TV drama series aired in 1994.

20 Most Memorable SBC (Channel 8) Dramas

Between 1982 and 1990, SBC produced close to ninety Chinese drama series for Channel 8; many were forgettable, some became classic, along with their theme songs which were tailor made to suit the storylines of the dramas. Creativity was at its peak as SBC explored different types of drama genres, such as mystery, horror, comedy, science-fiction and wuxia (pugilistic/martial arts).

RemSG sorts out its list of 20 most memorable Channel 8 dramas. Which of these were your favourite ones?

Plot Summary: It was a police and thief game as three robbers got away with a $300,000 loot from a construction company.

Trivia: Although it had only one episode and lasted only 90 minutes, “Seletar Robbery” was considered the first locally-produced Chinese drama. It took less than a month to finish the filming of the drama.

Plot Summary: Everything seemed well for the much-respected officer who was getting married and was just promoted to the rank of lieutenant, before an accident at the training ground cost his life.

Trivia: “Army Series” was the first true drama series produced by SBC, with a total of six episodes. It was also the first local production depicting the NS life, long before the movies of “Army Daze” (1996) and “Ah Boys to Men” (2012) were screened in Singapore. Its theme song “A Measure of Strength” (一份力量), sang by the SAF, was used as one of the National Parade songs in the late eighties.

Memorable Scene: Huang Wenyong, as the caring officer, was killed in the blast while saving his nervous recruit in a grenade-throwing training exercise.

Plot Summary: A teenager who aspired to become one of the best swimmers, but was pressured by his father to abandon his interest and instead study hard for the examinations.

Trivia: “Flying Fish” was introduced shortly after the 1983 National Day. Dubbed as Singapore’s first idol drama, it catapulted Wang Yuqing to stardom. The production also invited Singapore swimmer and SEA Games gold medalist Ang Peng Siong to guide the actors and actresses in their swimming styles.

4. The Awakening 雾锁南洋

Year: 06 February 1983 to 07 May 1983 (Part 1), 06 August 1984 to 12 October 1984 (Part 2)

Plot Summary: “The Awakening” came in two parts and four major stories; the arrival of the early Chinese migrants at the start of the 20th century, the Japanese Occupation, the independence of Singapore and the country’s rapid economic development in the seventies and eighties.

Trivia: The first local blockbuster drama cost a total of $500,000 in production fees, and involved more than 200 artistes and calefares. It managed to gain 800,000 in viewership, helping Huang Wenyong and Xiang Yun in cementing their statuses as the leading actor and actress in SBC. “The Awakening” also became the first SBC drama to be bought by TV companies overseas.

Memorable Scene: The Chinese migrants who arrived at Singapore in an overcrowded junk.

Plot Summary: One of the earliest “time travel”-themed dramas in Asia, “Men From The Past” featured an ancient martial arts expert and his nemesis who brought their feuds to the modern society after travelling through time.

Trivia: “Men From The Past” was the first SBC production that had travelled overseas for some of their filming scenes. It was also the first SBC production that, instead of using voice dubbing, recorded the actual dialogues between the actors and actresses during the filming. This, however, received criticisms from the public that the acting crews’ pronunciations were not up to standard.

Plot Summary: Two young men, leaving behind their innocent and carefree days at Pulau Tekong, struggled for their respective new life on mainland Singapore.

Trivia: The 26-episode drama “Son of Tekong” was well-remembered due to its locally-flavoured name (which literally means “attap seed”), beautiful theme songs and a storyline that struck a resonance with the previous generation who had experienced the resettlement from kampongs to HDB flats. The drama also showcased the rustic lifestyle of Pulau Tekong before it was converted into a militarized zone.

Memorable Scene: The RPL (Ramp Powered Lighter) that ferried the islanders and their belongings.

Plot Summary: A particularly “grassroot” drama, “The Coffee Shop” talked about the incidents and people around the kopitiam, and the everyday life of the families living in the nearby housing estate, including the braggart stallholder and his four younger sisters, the gossip aunty and the hardworking coffee shop assistant.

Trivia: The drama’s theme song “Connection of Emotions” (情感联络站), sang by Eric Moo with the familiar phrase “kopi O kopi O“, became an instant hit overnight. “The Coffee Shop” was the first local drama to hit one million average viewership.

Memorable Scene: The clash between the “red” (wedding) and the “white” (wake) at the void deck.

Plot Summary: It was a chaotic era during the early South Song Dynasty. Famous Song general Yue Fei led his army to resist the invasion from the barbaric Jin troops, with the help of several righteous swordsmen.

Trivia: A major attempt by SBC to produce a drama series with a storyline that derived from China history. One of its filming locations took place at the Chinese Garden. Taiwanese diva Feng Feifei was invited to sing the drama’s theme songs.

Memorable Scene: The massive battle between the Song city defenders and the Jin invaders.

Plot Summary: Another locally-flavoured drama series produced by SBC after “Son of Tekong” and “The Coffee Shop”, “The Samsui Women” described the life and difficulties of three samsui women working in Singapore after the war.

Trivia: The opening theme song, sang by Taiwanese songbird Sarah Chen, became a classic hit. The drama also brought fame to its leading actresses Zeng Huifeng and Hong Huifang.

Plot Summary: Like “The Coffee Shop”, “Neighbours” was a “grassroot” drama series that had a day-to-day storyline revolving around a kopitam and its stallholders of different characters.

Trivia: The daily half-hour “Neighbours” was the longest running drama series produced by SBC, with a total of 510 episodes and lasted more than two years. It brought fame to veteran actress Cai Pingkai, as her character “Er Gu” (Second Aunt) became a household name. The opening theme song “Voices From The Heart” (小人物的心声) was included in the Ministry of Communications and Information’s “Sing Singapore” booklet in 1988.

Plot Summary: Sharing a common space, the different families living at the row of shophouses showed their cooperative and helpful nature for one another. The story spanned over more than two decades, from the late fifties to the early eighties.

Trivia: Many veteran SBC artistes were involved in the production of “Five Foot Way”, which brought back many old familiar memories of Singapore such as tikam, chap ji kee and firecrackers. Its popular theme song “My Life Is Here” (我的生活在这里) was also recorded in Sing Singapore 1988.

13. Strange Encounters 奇缘

Year: 26 October 1987 to 27 November 1987 (Part 1), 19 December 1988 to 27 January 1989 (Part 2)

Plot Summary: One of the blockbusters produced by SBC in the late eighties, “The Last Applause” talked about the life of different getai (stage) singers who faced numerous challenges and discrimination. Many years later, an aspired singer became famous and popular, leading to a misunderstanding with her lover.

Trivia: The drama’s popular theme songs “When The Curtains Falls” (落幕的心情) and “Gentle Night” (温柔的夜) were sang by local singer Maggie Teng.

Plot Summary: A young passionate lady took up a teaching role at a local kampong school in the sixties, inspiring her students with new teaching methods. She later fell in love with a Chinese physician in the village.

Trivia: Along with its catchy opening theme song, “Good Morning, Sir!” was a big hit, as Li Nanxing and Chen Liping emerged as SBC’s new leading actor and actress. “Aiyoyo” also became Chen Liping’s nickname.

Memorable Scene: The kampongs and farming areas in Singapore that still existed in the eighties.

Plot Summary: A mother got separated from her five young children after she was sentenced to prison. The siblings were eventually reunited with their aging mother many years later, after a series of hardships, conflicts and misunderstandings.

Trivia: “A Mother’s Love” was popularly regarded as one of the most touching SBC dramas in the late eighties. The drama also saw the debut of Xie Shaoguang.

Plot Summary: “The Finishing Line” described the life and friendship of three good friends in Singapore in the eighties. Growing up together in a kampong at Sembawang, each of them had chosen a different career after their National Service.

Trivia: The drama catapulted Edmund Chen to stardom.

Memorable Scenes: A glimpse of Singapore’s thriving financial centre at Shenton Way in the late eighties.

Hi Remember SG, thank you for the awesome article. I would like to ask if you have a follow-up or previous article on notable Singapore dramas in the 90s?

Also, if possible, is it okay if you can create an article that mentions the viewership (average and also peak) for all the Singapore Channel 8 dramas that you have? I am very shocked that you actually have data about the viewership of shows like The Awakening or The Coffee Shop. I cannot find any viewership information for shows in the 80s or 90s. I only know of viewership of dramas in recent years. I keep trying to find them (I only know that Pretty Faces got over a million viewers for one of its episodes, and Out To Win got a 30% share for its last episode, but we never have real viewership ratings, both average and peak for many many series). Please do publish that, and I would be really grateful if you can. Thank you!

Haha I remember Star Maiden. That show had so many technical inaccuracies, unbelievable script, outlandish dialogue and cheesy effects I was and am still sure the whole cast and crew was on crack and 101 other mind bending narcotics when they made it. Easily MST3K material.

He has fond memories of a Samurai show that involved a samurai whose hand was cut off. After that he travelled the land with a fake hand as the handle of his sword. He was suppose to be the faster sword drawer in the world. The name of the show according to my friend was “Dar Bai Fu”.

I have looked everywhere on the internet and your site has the BEST knowledge of shows from Singapore so I thought I would take a chance and ask if you’ve ever heard of this show or if you know of a place to look.

The V hand sign, I remember every kid in my school used to go crazy with that hand sign after watching that show, I even challenged my sister to see who can do that V with both hands. I also remember being very fascinated with this Chew Chor Meng fantasy martial arts drama where his special power is to extend his arms to attack his opponents.

He is the chao ah gua acted by the all time SBC actor Jin Ju Gong in the Last Swordsman show. He acted as a normal righteous pugilist during daytime and transform into purple killer at nite to kill ppl. One of my fav SBC villains

maybe you can help! I cannot remember the name of a Chinese “period” drama. I am an American who lived in SEAsia and loved watching these shows…even though I didn’t understand them. The show featured very strong women, who were in charge. I saw it during the years 1987 and 1988. It might have been called “Lady Yang Warrior”? If so I would love to find a copy on the internet! I have seen something like it on Youtube. Not sure if it’s the same!

All these brought back so much fond memories of my childhood. I used to be glued to tv watching all these drama series. The acting skills of the current actors/actresses really pale in comparison to these veteran actors/actresses. That’s also the reason why I refused and never watched mediacorp dramas for the past 15 years.

I dun remember seeing this show inside Toggle. You have to ask Mediacorp to upload it. I looking for “Men from the Past” btw. I think Liu Qiulian is acting as some princess inside and Chen Tianwen is the imperial bodyguard who got transported to present day SG here and ended up looking for her in some HDB flats.

It’s a step back in time. For a visitor, it’s a step into the Singapore of the 1950s.

But for some of the actors and TV people there, it is also a step back into the 90s, when they last filmed there. After almost a decade, TV World in Tuas is seeing lights, camera and action again.

Once the jewel of our local dramas, TV World, which is about the size of four football fields, was the equivalent of the film lots of Hollywood.

Created to look like the bustling Singapore of the 1950s, it has three main streets that lead to structures that look like a three-storey cinema, a railway station, a fire station, a city hall, a church, several mansions and rows of Chinese shophouses.

In the 90s, the Television Corporation Of Singapore (TCS, now MediaCorp) filmed memorable period dramas there. These included Strange Encounters 3, Tofu Street, The Price Of Peace, Wok Of Life and Hainan Kopi Tales.

About 10 years ago, the company gave up the area, which is next to the Tuas checkpoint.

Then last month, MediaCorp returned to TV World to film Channel 8’s 30th anniversary period drama, Joys Of Life. The series, which stars Chen Liping, Zheng Geping, Rui En, Huang Wenyong, Chew Chor Meng and Taiwanese artistes Alien Huang and Cynthia Wang, will start airing in June. The drama is also filmed in a MediaCorp studio and on a re-created street in the company’s Caldecott Hill compound.

Chew, who has filmed some 10 dramas at TV World since its opening in 1991, told The New Paper in an on-set interview last Sunday that he has many fond memories of the place. The 43-year-old actor had brought his wife and two daughters, aged eight and 10, along that day so he could show them where he used to work and what Singapore used to look like.

“There’s a river at the back of the compound where we fished when we had free time in between filming,” Chew said.

“There was also a Malay kampung set and a street from Chinese period costume dramas. It’s now just a big green field…

“(The area) should be conserved. The building structures are very good, and it’s a waste if we don’t film here any more. This is a part of Singapore drama history and a collective memory for actors of my era…

“It’s quite sad and a pity that the buildings are now labelled Briefing House, Block A and so on.”

Police training

A police spokesman told The New Paper that the area is now called Tactical Training Village and is used by specialist forces in the police for training purposes.

When The New Paper was there on Sunday, some buildings were cordoned off with tape. The streets in TV World now have real street names such as Cluny Street and Queen Street.

Chew said the TCS props department once built the interior of a plane in TV World because no one was willing to rent them a real aircraft for filming. He couldn’t remember which show that was for.

Chew and veteran actress Lin Meijiao also recalled another time when almost the entire cohort of TCS artistes stood on the steps of the city hall in TV World to film a trailer.

It was such a grand affair, they said.

Added Chew: “I love this place because it’s easy to get into the mood of a period drama with these retro buildings. You can’t find such places in Singapore any more. But I also hate this place because it’s so far away.”

TV World was open to the public for some time in the 1990s, Chew said. MediaCorp referred TNP to speak to Madam Winnie Wong, the executive producer of Joys Of Life. She said that she liaised with the police for about two months to obtain permission to film in TV World.

The film crew could not enter certain buildings in a restricted area. Only two streets and the cinema have been used for filming the drama. And because of the police training, the crew can film there only about eight days a month, usually during weekends.

Wong, who has worked in showbiz for 30 years, said she wanted to film at TV World because she wanted the drama to be a nostalgic trip down memory lane for the actors, crew and audience. Also, the period sets that MediaCorp has are of the 1930s and 1940s, but Joys Of Life is set in the 1950s and 1960s.

“Previous period dramas like Together and The Little Nyonya were filmed in Malacca and Penang, and the audience has seen those buildings before. There’s no surprise there for them,” Wong added.

“Some of the buildings in Malaysia are also either too run-down or too modernised. We have to avoid filming tall buildings and electricity poles.

“The veteran artistes and crew were filled with emotions when they re-entered TV World. I think the audience will feel the same when they see TV World on screen.”

Wong said MediaCorp only had to replace the doors, windows and business signs along two streets in TV World. She doesn’t know the exact cost, but said it was not a big sum and definitely worth the money.

She’s not certain if MediaCorp was asked to vacate the premises a decade ago because it was too near the Tuas checkpoint. What she understands is that MediaCorp cut down drastically on producing period dramas locally after the 1990s.

From filming more than four period dramas annually in the 1980s and 1990s, only one was filmed a year in the 2000s. They were instead filmed in China.

Costly

So it became financially unwise and costly to maintain TV World. Since then, some scenes in period dramas were also filmed in MediaCorp’s own backyard at Caldecott, where busy streets were recreated.

Younger artistes like Rui En, 31, have never filmed in TV World before, but her friends remember the place and told her about it.

“My first impression of the place is that it’s very, very cute. I didn’t know it existed until I was told we were to film here,” she told The New Paper.

“I didn’t grow up in this era (1950s), and it’s very foreign (to me). It’s very nice to have a location to help you with the acting.”

Her friends have also shared stories of how the place is haunted, but Rui En said she has never felt uneasy there, even at night. She plays a tragic character who is forced to marry a stranger to pay off her adoptive father’s debt.

Her co-star, Taiwanese actor-host-singer Alien Huang, 28, said he took many photos of TV World when he first filmed there as there aren’t any such permanent film sets in Taipei. He plays Chew’s son in Joys Of Life.

“This place is fresh and interesting, with the old buildings and an old car. I rode a bicycle around the entire compound to have a good look at the place,” he said. “I especially like the cinema because it has a very retro flavour to it.”

Yes, just bought the above songs from iTunes, album is called “50 years of TV”, but unfortunately it doesn’t include “雾锁南洋“by 孙振福， “情迷” by 江玲， “天涯同命鸟” by 潘秀琼, “我曾有个梦想”by 吴佳明， ”边缘少年” “容许我相信我” by 姜鄠，so I’m still searching for these , appreciate if anyone can advise when to get them.

I listened all those songs you mention on YouTube and will like to know 家和万事兴1986 song thank you haha I wasn’t even born when all those dramas originate aired on date I was born 1995 but still know all of the dramas the blog posted hehe

Thank you for posting this. It definitely brings back many nostalgic memories for me.

I’m pretty sure we had busy social lives like playing with our neighbours, school and homework, but many of these TV series garnered an average of a million viewers every weeknight which is quite amazing considering Singapore’s population then was probably around 2.5 million.

The common threads for those dramas that I love – many of which you have featured here are either stories that tell a slice of Singapore’s history and of us common-folk and the challenges (known and unknown) that we faced then.

Of course, my Singaporean drama watching stopped the moment I arrived in Sydney to begin my new life but I will always thank TCS for showcasing Teochew Family (潮州家族) in the 90s before I left because I finally understood why my Mum and some of her sisters had strange names (that weren’t Mum or Dad) for their own parents, and it wasn’t their names too.

Veteran local actor Bai Yan, who celebrated his 100th lunar birthday in May, died in the early hours of Monday (Aug 19) after he was hospitalised for pneumonia.

His granddaughter Jenny told Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao that Bai was hospitalised for pneumonia 10 days ago, and died at about 3am on Monday.

Bai had celebrated his 100th birthday on May 5, with the bash attended by more than 130 local actors and people in the TV industry, including Zoe Tay, Aileen Tan, Christopher Lee, Jin Yinji, Zheng Geping, Hong Huifang, Chen Xiuhuan, Zhu Houren and Tang Hu.

Bai’s wake is held at the Singapore Casket and his funeral will be held on Friday.

Born Yan Boyuan in Wuhan, China, in 1920, Bai began his acting career in the 1930s, when he joined the touring Yin Yue Music And Dance Troupe in southern China. He came to Singapore with the music and dance troupe as a young man in the early 1940s and married then local movie star Ye Qing in 1944. She died at 94 in 2016.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Bai was known for acts involving magic and acrobatics mixed with dance, and was adept at performing sketches. In 1985, at the age of 65, Bai was invited to join then Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and acted in his first television serial Blossoms In The Sun. He has acted in other TV serials such as Son Of Pulau Tekong (1985), Men Of Valour (1986), Five Foot Way (1987) and My Fair Ladies (1988).

Bai played the patriarch of a family in We Are Family (1988), a role that was tailor-made for him. He kept in touch with the show’s actors, including actress Fang Hui, who had left Singapore but still visited him whenever she returned to the country.

The veteran actor retired from acting after receiving the Special Achievement award at the Star Awards in 1996. He had acted in about 70 TV serials in 11 years.